Eating the right food is important for people watching their cholesterol levels but can be challenging if you crave certain favorites. These simple food swaps can help.
By
Charlotte Libov
by
Samuel Mackenzie, MD, PhD
Updated on April 4, 2022
The foods you choose to cook and eat can help lower cholesterol.
Lowering your cholesterol requires some serious life changes, especially when it comes to your diet. For many people, the “bad for you” list looks a lot like a list of favorite foods, such as bacon, burgers, fries, and sweets, which can be hard to give up.
But smart food choices are essential for lowering cholesterol naturally, which in turn lowers yourrisk of heart attack. A studypublished in April 2021 in the journal BMC Medicineshowed that the risk for cardiovascular disease was higher for people who ate a diet that was high in processed sugar, butter, and low-fiber bread, and low in fruits and vegetables.
“Your genetics play a big role in your cholesterol level, but so do other factors, including diet, and the foods you eat can help to lower it,” saysHarvey Kramer, MD, acardiologistatDanbury Hospitalin Connecticut.
If your new diet rules seem daunting, here are some simple food swaps for an easier transition.
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Go Fish
Swapping out red meat for fish — especially fattier varieties, like salmon, tuna, mackerel, and trout — may contribute tolower cholesterol numbersoverall, saysSue Gebo, RD, of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.Fatty fish have the advantage of containing omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to lower your risk of heart disease or stroke.
Scallops are a particularly healthy substitute because they're among the lowest in fat of all seafood choices, so you'll save on calories, too. Plus, Gebo adds, “They have a rich texture and a very satisfying flavor, especially when they’re grilled.”
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Top Your Salad With Nuts
High-fiber vegetables are great for lowering cholesterol, so salads are a go — that is, until you top them off with croutons, which are often high in unhealthy fats and highly processed carbohydrates. Instead, try adding heart-healthy nuts to your salad.
Areview of 29 studies, published in June 2020 in the journalNutrition and Metabolic Insights,showed that regular consumption of tree nuts helped lower blood cholesterol levels. These effects were consistent even when the amount, type, and duration of nut consumption varied. The reductions affected total cholesterol, along with changes in HDL ("good") and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels.
When it comes to nuts, walnuts are a particularly heart-healthy food for low cholesterol because they're rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, a healthier type of fat. Walnuts also contain fiber, which has been shown to lower your risk of heart disease.
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Eat a Whole-Grain English Muffin for Breakfast
Those flaky, perfectly shaped croissants look delicious at the bakery, but the layers of flour and butter equal a big mistake if you’rewatching your cholesterol. Butter is high in saturated fat, which can raise cholesterol levels. On the other hand, a whole-grain English muffin not only has less saturated fat but also adds around 4 grams of heart-healthy fiber. Making this swap will put you well on your way to the American Heart Association’s recommendation of incorporating more whole grains, which contain dietary fiber and other nutrients, into your diet. Doing this will help lower your cholesterol.
For a healthy topping, you can add a nut butter of your choice; these spreads contain dietary fiber and heart-healthy fats. Or tryfruit preserves — just be sure to keep an eye on the amount of added sugar.
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Eat Dark Chocolate Instead of Milk Chocolate
If you’re a chocoholic trying to stick to a heart-healthy diet, opt for the dark stuff. While milk chocolate contains saturated fat that can raise LDL, dark chocolateskips most of the fat. Studies have shown thatdark chocolate can reduce your total cholesterol level, as well as yourLDL.Although dark chocolate does contain a moderate amount of saturated fats, it also containshigh levels of flavanols, which are thought to help protect the heart.
Cocoa butter contains oleic acid, a healthier monounsaturated fat like that in olive oil. In astudy of postmenopausal women with high cholesterol levels published in June 2019 inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,participants saw a decrease in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels after five weeks of eating a diet high in oleic acid.
Just make sure the dark chocolate you choose has 70 to 80 percent cacao, suggestsChauncey Crandall, MD, a cardiologist at the Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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Dip Your Vegetables in Hummus
You probably already know to skip potato chips in favor of vegetables such as celery and carrot sticks, but what’s the best choice for dipping? Hummus, made from mashed chickpeas and heart-healthy olive oil, is just as tasty and has both fiber and protein, unlike cream-based dips rich in saturated fat.
Chickpeas also contain a substance called sitosterol, which can help lower blood cholesterol levels by interfering with the body’s absorption of cholesterol. When it comes to choosing hummus, avoid brands with a lot of additives, including excess sodium or saturated fats.
You can also pair it with whole-grain pita chips, which aren’t fried like potato chips.
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Make Chili With Ground Turkey
If you’re a purist, you may not favor ground turkey itself, even in burgers. But lean ground turkey — which usually contains 7 percent fat, compared with the 20 percent fat content of 80 percent lean ground beef — is a cinch to disguise. The lower the saturated fat, the less detrimental it is to your cholesterol level. Even better, "No one can tell the difference," says Gebo, who uses ground turkey all the time to make chili.
Ground turkey also makes a great substitute for ground beef in dishes like meatballs or meatloaf.You can also use ground chicken, which is similar in terms of nutrition but with a slightly different taste.
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Roast, Instead of Fry, Your Potatoes
French fries are doused in fat, so they're a good food to skip when you're watching your cholesterol. Avoid ordering fries at restaurants whenever possible, opting for roasted potatoes instead. You can also make them at home, where you can control the preparation, which includes adding in moderate amounts ofheart-healthy fats such as olive oil.
If you are deciding between white potatoes and sweet potatoes, you should know that both are nutritional powerhouses, offering nutrients such as fiber, potassium, and vitamin C. Regular potatoes have more potassium, while sweet potatoes have a bit more fiber. Whether you choose one or the other, both are a good option.
Additional reporting by Rachel Fairbank.
